Hands-On: HTC's 'Facebook' Phones

Since the Salsa and ChaCha were behind glass this isn't a true hands-on, but we share our thoughts on these interesting devices anyway.

AD article continues below...

It was a shame that HTC wouldn't allow anyone to touch its Facebook phones, but we were able to get some pictures of them behind glass.

What's most interesting about these two phones is how HTC decided to make use of the dedicated Facebook button. As HTC's John Wang out it, if all that button did was launch Facebook, that wouldn't be innovative at all.

Instead, the Facebook button interacts with what the user is doing. So, say I am listening to some Foo Fighters. If I press the Facebook button while in the music player, it will push the song to my Facebook page and let everyone know what i am listening to. Similarly, if I've just taken an amazing photograph and then press the Facebook button, it will automatically send the image to my Facebook page. It performs like this with web sites, check-ins and more.

HTC also customized its Sense user interface to interact with Facebook posts more seamlessly. For example, users' most recent posts appear in the clock widget on the home page, so you can see what you last shared.

These are neat innovations, to be sure, and we're anxious to spend some real time with these phones.